School Days, School Ways
by Ray-Tiger-Cat
Summary: Series of drabbles about school. Even world famous Beybladers need their education and just like everyone else, friendships and romances provide plenty of entertainment. Not a high school fic.
1. Of Things That Go BOOM!

RTC: Hi everyone! Today's my third anniversary of being an author here! So to celebrate (especially since I missed my last anniversary) I'm posting a multi-chaptered fic!

Kai: Dear god, my life is over.

RTC: Anyhow, this is a series of 15 drabbles/oneshots about the 'bladers in school, featuring some cute couples and some fluffy friendships. Special thank you to Iluvbeyblade for coming up with the theme of school. Hopefully I'll do it justice. First up, Tyson and Hilary!

Ray: Ray-Tiger-Cat does now own Beyblade, got that?

* * *

He was stuck in detention. Yes, AGAIN.

She was frustrated. Also AGAIN.

How did this happen? Well, it all started innocently in a little thing teachers like to call chemistry class and students liked to call an excuse to play with dangerous chemicals for no apparent reason.

And yet again, Tyson was sleeping in class, as Hilary, frantically wrote notes. She may be his girlfriend, but she wasn't stupid enough to be his lab partner. Not after what happened to his last one... It ended with a bloody nose, a trip to the ER, and a lab bench being set on fire.

So now poor Tyson was working alone. It was a disaster just waiting to happen, really.

"Alright class, you may begin your experiments. Remember to measure your chemicals CORRECTLY," the teacher concluded.

"Huh, what?" Tyson muttered as he woke up from his nap. Deciding that he could read and follow the instructions in his book rather than ask for help, he set about gathering the supplies for the lab. Unbeknownst to Tyson, the teacher had explained that there was a critical typo in the instructions, which called for a more dangerous and reactive compound than was necessary for their lab.

As Tyson continued to use the wrong chemical, the rest of the class was working in relative peace and quiet. And though Hilary was only at the next seat over, she was busy talking to her friend and lab partner and didn't see Tyson's mistake.

Well, not until BOOM! "NOOOO!"

"Someone get the fire extinguisher!"

"Get the hazardous waste bucket!"

"DENTION, MR GRANGER!"

"HILARY! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?!" Tyson whined, and it was at this point Hilary snapped.

"I'm not your mother or your maid! Learn to do something for yourself!"

"Fine, maybe I will!"

"Then fine by me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

By this point, Hilary and Tyson were starting to be dragged off in opposite directions by classmates and their teacher to keep the pair from starting World War 3.

Which brings us to this point. Tyson was staying after school to serve his detention and while Hilary's head said to leave him, her heart told her to wait.

When Tyson finally got out of detention, he knew he had blown it, both literally and figuratively. There was no way Hilary was going to forgive him for this one. She was right; she wasn't his keeper. Head bowed, Tyson walked out of school thinking of how he could get Hilary's forgiveness. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted some flowers in a school flower bed. And with that, he rushed off to put his step one of his apology in effect.

Hilary had almost given up on Tyson getting out of detention and was almost ready to throw in the towel and go home after all when she spotted the blue-haired champion rush by her so quickly he didn't even notice her. "Hey Tyson!"

His head snapped up. She was still here? After what he had said, no screamed, and in front of the whole class no less. "Hilary." And before he knew what he was doing, he rushed over and gave her a huge hug. "I'm sorry."

"I know. I forgive you."

"I was trying to get out early-Teacher being hard- Was gonna get flowers- WAIT, WHAT?!"

"I said I forgive you... Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Maybe I'd like some flowers after all," Hilary said with a wink.

Tyson smiled. He reached over and pulled up one of the thousands of bright yellow dandelions that grew on school property. "For you, my fair lady," he said with a cheesy accent.

Hilary giggled and accepted it."Thanks, Tyson." And as they started walking home, she took his hand in hers, and Tyson knew he was truly forgiven.

* * *

RTC: So the fluff continues. Just a warning that my updates will be at random and probably a few weeks between as I'm in university and the workload is enough to kill us! Bye for now everyone! Also, R&R!


	2. Syntax Error

RTC: And here we witness computer geek fluff. Enjoy!

Kenny: Ray-Tiger-Cat doesn't own Beyblade yet, or there'd have been 5 more seasons full of angst.

* * *

It seemed like no matter how good of a computer teacher the school hired, Kenny would always be better for the job. So when the whole school's computer infrastructure crashed, he found himself in the computer lab, trying to sort out the mess that was grading systems, student accounts and even some of the teachers' personal correspondences. Typing away like a madman during his lunch break was normal for Kenny, and besides, the teachers always were so grateful and sometimes would come by with coffee or lunch while he worked. And at any rate, he loved to go through and solve all kinds of technical issues.

The unfortunate situation this particular lunch hour was the fact that the whole entire system had gone down due to a virus and report cards were scheduled to go out the following day, meaning they needed to be printed by that afternoon. As much as Kenny like being a one-man army, he knew he needed back up, so he asked Emily to come help.

She showed up right away, never really being one of those girls that travelled in packs and needed to check with their friends before doing anything, laptop in tow, and a couple wires and electronic gizmos sticking out of her half zipped bag.

"So what's the trouble with these old dinosaurs this time?" she asked, not even minding that he had hauled her away from her lunch.

"Whole system's down. Grab a chair; we're gonna be here a while," he grunted back, hardly looking up from his screen. Unfazed by his lack of enthusiasm to see her, she did as told and starting frantically sorting through the cyber-mess.

A few hours later, the system was looking "less broken" as a wandering teacher put it.

And speaking of broken... No, she told herself, they were not going to go there. I'm not that type of girl. He's not that type of guy. We don't need the hassle.

And of its own free will, her mouth began forming the words without her consent.

"Kenny?" she started, "How did we get so broken?"

He looked up, surprised at her soft, child-like tone. "Broken?" he repeated.

"Yeah. We used to... well, like, like each other," she mumbled, berating herself for how stupid she sounded. "Or I did anyway. Like you."

Kenny looked surprised. "I thought you had moved on."

Emily shook her head. "I just never knew what to say. I thought you didn't notice."

He blushed. "I am bit dense."

"So this was just a misunderstanding by the 'socially awkward computer geeks'?"

"Looks that way," Kenny replied, with a shy smile.

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"This." In a bold move, for Kenny anyway, he reached over and pecked her on the cheek. "Want to go out tonight or something?"

"Nah."

"Oh?" Was he being rejected already?

"Nope. I was thinking a bit of WoW tonight. Wanna come over and play it with me?"

He smiled again. "You're on!"

* * *

RTC: Okay, I'm sorry for the WoW reference. I know it is stereotypical and shallow of me to say that, but I didn't know how else to end it. But I think it turned out okay. Opinions are welcome!


	3. Storytime With Max

RTC: And here we take a break from the romantic fluff to go for family fluff. Please review.

Max: Nope, Ray-Tiger-Cat still doesn't own Beyblade.

* * *

"Come on Mom! We don't want to be late for this!" Max shouted, tearing through the house at break-neck speeds.

"You still haven't told me what 'this' is! Now slow down on the stairs, or you're going to fall and break your neck!"

"Yes Mum!" Max called back as he jumped into the car.

Judy popped out of the house a few minutes later. "You're driving today?" she asked when she noticed her son was in the driver's seat. "My little Max is growing up so fast."

Max smiled. "Hurry, Mom!"

"Whoa, whoa, no need to break the speed limit," Judy commented.

Pretty soon, they had arrived at the school and Max had parked in the over-crowded parking lot. He jumped out of the car and grabbed his mom's hand to pull her along. Judy smiled; it had been a long time since Max held her hand. And she missed it.

Still tugging away, Max pulled Judy into what she knew to be the direction of the auditorium. Upon entering the large room, she saw that it was half-filled with small children, presumably from the elementary school next door. The back half was comprised mostly of Max's classmates.  
The screen on the stage had a list of people presenting, and Judy was surprised to find her son's name on it.

After leading his mother to the front of the room and pointing her in the direction of the reserved seats, Max mounted the stage. All Judy could do was sit through the other speeches and wonder why her son had brought her. Apparently, this was a presentation to inspire the children to reach for their dreams. It made sense that Max was speaking-he was, after all, a world champion. As Max finally approached the podium, Judy held her breath in anticipation.

"And now we have the world famous Max Tate to share his story," the MC announced.

"MMMMMMAAAAAXXXXX!" The kids were clearly excited to see him and Judy glowed with pride.

"Hi everyone!" Max greeted, grinning from ear to ear. "I think you all know who I am, but today I'm going to talk a little bit about how I got here." The screen changed to show a picture of a little Max, about 7, tops, being taken to school by his mother. "There's one person who helped me get where I am, and that would be my mother," he went on, and pointed Judy out, who was surprised to find herself blushing. "Without my mom, I would never have made it. So thank you, Mom!"

As Max went on, Judy realized she was very lucky to have such a thoughtful young son who, rather than be embarrassed by his mother, brought her to school in front of all his friends and talked about her in such a glowing way. 'He's one in a million, my Max.'

* * *

RTC: Well, as stated above, please review. It's rather sad how it's taken me more than a year to write a multi-chaptered fic, after a long string of oneshots, only to get a single review per chapter. Otherwise, I may be forced to discontinue this, and I really don't want to do that.


	4. School Violence

RTC: I apologize for the long hiatus, but I've had writer's block, in combination with very few reviews and didn't feel like writing. So now I'm back with more fluffy goodness.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat still doesn't own Beyblade.

* * *

"Alright girls, suit up! You have three minutes!" the gym teacher shouted, followed by a short, sharp blow on her whistle. With many groans and grumbles, the class dragged themselves into the change room, lugging heavy backpacks with them.

"I hate gym," Queen grumbled.

"Why?"

"They don't let us play any decent games. Sheesh, why touch football?! Tackling is so much better!" Continuing with her rant about the complete lack of any violence in the girls' gym class, she changed and got herself into the gym. To her surprise, the boys' class was also standing in the same gym. Glancing around, she quickly caught Bryan's eye.

Once everyone had gotten out of the change rooms, the boys' teacher grabbed his mega phone and shouted, "Alright boys and girls, today we have a surprise for you! We're playing dodgeball. Now show these ladies what you're made of, boys!"

An evil glint appeared in both Bryan and Queen's eyes. The coach blew his whistle. Game on!

Dodge balls started flying everywhere.

"You're going down Kunestov!"

"Shove it, you sissy!"

In the meantime, all their classmates were cowering in fear of the two and their increasingly violent throws. A collection of people had been tagged and sent to the benches. Pretty soon, Queen and Bryan were the only two left on the field. Their classmates cowered in fear, knowing that this was all-out war. Their teachers were screaming cheers and hoping that their pupil would win.

The two grabbed several balls each and got ready to launch. Balls went flying at mach speeds. Byran might have his abbey training, but Queen was all too used to having to prove herself. They were evenly matched.

"Come on, Kuznetsov, show that girl what you're made of!"

"Go on, Queen, only five minutes left till the bell!"

The violent throws increased in frequency. Both had to dive on the floor to avoid being hit. Then BAM! One of their throws managed to hit the light fixture-unfortunately the protective cage had been removed for cleaning purposes-and shattered the bulb. Instantly, the gym got much dimmer, and glass came raining down on them. Someone blew the whistle, and the two finally looked up from their game, a bit dazed.

"Sorry guys can't play with glass all over the gym. Game over."

"Awe, man, really Coach?" Bryan grumbled.

"Yes really, now get back here!"

As the boys and girls separated to go to their change rooms, Queen walked over to Bryan. Everyone braced themselves again.

"I love you, honey," she said, with an evil glint.

"Love you too," he grumbled back.

With a quick kiss, the two separated and walked off to change, leaving their classes and teachers gaping after them.

* * *

RTC: If you've actually read this far, please drop a review. I feel like it's pointless to write if no one is reading. Didn't get one single review last chapter and I'm pretty bummed about that. Also, if anyone has an idea for my 50th fic/oneshot, please tell. This is already my 49th story.


	5. How Things Change

RTC: Hey, I'm back! A quick warning, this chapter is so cutesy and brotherly lovey that it almost makes me sick, and I'm the one that wrote it. So here we have a Tyson and Hiro moment. I personally think the aftermath of BEGA between the two is a fun thing to write, while throwing in childhood fluff.

Tyson: Ray-Tiger-cat does not own Beyblade, although she owns this fluff she calls a fic.

* * *

Hiro sighed as he pulled into the parking lot in front of the school. So much had changed over the past few months, and he could barely wrap his head around it. Six months ago, he was on a dig in Africa, and hardly saw his family, and now he was home. When Tyson asked for a ride home from school, he had volunteered to come pick him up; after all, it was an old tradition.

_Hiro huffed and puffed as he pedalled his bike in front of the nursery school. He couldn't be late picking Tyson up, he just couldn't. His brother counted on him. Phew, two minutes to spare. He put down the kickstand and waited._

He pulled into a parking space, with a few minutes to spare. Putting the gear to park, and pulling the handbrake, he looked out the window and watched.

_A few minutes later, the bell rang, and out came his little brother. He was chatting with his friends, and pulling on the cap his teacher wouldn't allow him to wear in class. In his other hand, he held a large piece of paper-the day's art project, Hiro suspected._

As the bell rang, Tyson came barrelling out the door, complete with his team mates. He had an armload of books, and was struggling to get his trademark hat on with the other, whining about how all teachers hated hats.

_Hiro waves, and little Tyson runs over, full of excitement about the day. He hands over the artwork and bounce with energy. "Hey, Hiro! Guess what we did today?" he shouts._  
_"What, kiddo?" Hiro asks, despite knowing that they did the same thing nearly every day._  
_"We read a stowy, and painted a picture, and had a snack-I like snacks, and played on the playgwound!"_

Hiro honks the horn and Tyson looks up. He dashes over and opens the back door, and dumps the pile of books. "Hey, Hiro! You'll never believe what they made us do today," he begins, "We had this dreadful assembly this morning, reminding us of the dress code, and then we re-read the same novel in English to analyse it, and the lunch ladies actually made a decent meal for once..."

_Hiro picks Tyson up and puts him in the little kiddie seat at the back of his bike and fastens him in. "Here's your helmet," he says as Tyson gives him a look of disgust._

"Ty, buckle up you seatbelt," Hiro reminds, out of habit. Tyson rolls his eyes.

_"Thank woo for coming to pick me up, big bwother," Tyson mumbles. Hiro smiles a silent 'you're welcome'._

"Thanks a mill, Hiro," Tyson mumbles, suddenly shy. Hiro smiles and looks over. So much had changed. And yet nothing had changed at all.

* * *

RTC: D'awwe! Anyhow, sorry if this is a bit on the nice and normal, non-angsty side, but it's the first idea that's come to me at night that has made me want to jump out of bed and write in a very long time. I truly like this, but what do you think? R and R please!


	6. Flick Flick

RTC: Hello all. Sorry for the VERY long delay in posting this, especially as I said I had it written up over a month ago. My life has just been a bit crazy and then I got writer's block on writing a fluffy romantic chapter, so I'm throwing in the towel and posting this. Hopefully I'll get some nice reviews to make me write romance? (Hint hint.) Warning, quite a bit of the crack-ish humour in here; you were warned.

Tyson: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade.

* * *

"Ring-ring went the little green phone one day; ring-ring went the little green phone! Ring-ring went the little green phone one day, and they all went ring-ring-ring! But we know phones go," the teacher made a dramatic pause, and waited for the students to join in, "La-de-da-de-da! La-de-da-de-da! La-de-da-de-da! But we know phones go la-de-da-de-da! They don't go ring-ring-ring!" And now the teacher was doing all the clapping and dancing. Now, had this been a group of preschoolers, this might have been okay, but it was a unit in a high school music class.

Julia rolled her eyes. This whole unit was stupid. Who the hell cared how phones and frogs and whatever the hell else went? Getting more and more bored, she flicked a piece of paper over at Raul.

He too was bored. He had signed up to sing and do musicals, not nursery rhymes! He looked at the piece of paper his twin had flicked over. Grabbing a pen, he scrawled something on it and flicked it back.

Julia opened the paper up. "Flick-flick went the little green paper one day; flick-flick went the little green paper!" Raul had written, sure to get a crack out of her. Writing more, she tossed it back.

"Flick-flick went the little green paper one day, and they all went flick-flick-flick! But we know papers go..." Raul read.

At this precise moment, the teacher asked if anyone would like to sing with her. Julia, being Julia raised her hand, and dragged poor Raul to the front of the room, hissing how it was his stupid song.

"3, 2, 1," the teacher counted off, and the twins started their rendition. "Flick-flick went the little green paper one day; flick-flick went the little green paper! Flick-flick went the little green paper one day, and they all went flick-flick-flick! But we know papers go..." they even did the dramatic pause, "La-de-da-de-da! La-de-da-de-da! La-de-da-de-da! But we know papers go la-de-da-de-da! They don't go flick-flick-flick!" The class burst into laughter, and the teacher looked stunned. For a second, Raul was sure they were going to get detention.

But to their surprise, the teacher laughed and joined in! "Everybody now!" she commanded, and the class joined in, amidst all the giggling. Raul and Julia glanced at each other. Sometimes life just needed a good laugh.

* * *

RTC: ...So... I'm not on crack, if anyone's wondering. I have NO idea where this came from, but I apparently wrote it at 1 am, if that's any explanation. If anyone's wondering, I've got two more friendships, and 6 more romances to go, so with any luck, the next chapter will be the mush we're all waiting for. Once again, my deepest apologies, guys. Also, there's a poll on my profile, and if anyone were to vote, I'd love them forever. (More hinting.)


	7. High School Never Ends

RTC: Yes, I know I'm on hiatus, but I got bored this week, and decided to sit and FORCE myself to write this. Can't abandon my fic, now can I? Sorry for the delay! This chapter is for Iluvbeyblade, my awesome clone. Tried something different here, see if you can get it before the end.

Max: Ray-Tiger-Cat still doesn't own Beyblade, 'cause she's a broke student, and doesn't have the money to buy it.

* * *

Mariam sighed. It had been yet another long day. She could not remember why she had signed up for this. Her math class was a nightmare. Those kids belonged into a zoo. The senior class was always like that. They had survived 3 years of high school and thought it entitled them to do whatever they wanted. They also thought the teachers had been born yesterday, unfortunately for her. Her physics class had been no better. Was it her fault no one seemed to get quantum mechanics? Argh. Not to mention the fact that half the class was more interested in other people's love lives than their work.

It was still early, but she figured she was entitled to a little break and started packing up her things half an hour early. Stuffing giant piles of loose paper into her bag, Mariam sighed again. Those would be all crumpled by the next day, but she just couldn't care anymore. High school would always suck. She watched the class work somewhat diligently on their worksheets, and then proceeded to stare at the clock. Twenty-five minutes left. Why, oh why, did that clock always go so much slower at the end of the day?

She sat and stared some more, and let her brain drift off to thoughts of her boyfriend. Max had been off in New York for the last two weeks, visiting his mother. Maybe that's why life seemed so dull these days. He always brightened her day, and they hadn't been apart for more than a few days in the three years they'd been together. And with the time difference, she couldn't even call him much. All their phone calls invariably ended in one of them staying up a bit too late and nearly drifting off. Thank goodness he'd be home tonight. She'd missed him far more than she thought possible.

She couldn't believe her rotten luck, having to come back to school later that night for parent-teacher night. She wanted to go pick Max up. Two weeks was an eternity, she swore.

The bell ringing snapped her out of her thoughts

'Oh, FINALLY!' she thought as she jumped out of her seat and tried to get out of the building as soon as possible. High schoolers were known to clog up the hallways gossiping after class. Dumping her bag on the passenger seat, she climbed into the driver's side. She and Max took turns driving, and it had been weird having to drive by herself. As she drove home, she thought of this week's math assignment and how long that would take to tackle. Sheesh. Getting home, she promptly dropped her bag on her desk, grabbed an apple and set to work. Thirty-three assignments were calling to her.

An hour and a half later, she was finally finished. Mariam got up and stretched, before getting in the shower. She wanted to look good for Max, though she had no idea why. He had seen her at her worst and not run off yet. Mariam stared at her closet, and wondered what Max would have planned for tonight. He had hinted at a surprise when he got back. Deciding she shouldn't get too dressed up, she pulled on a nice green sweater, some jeans, and brushed her hair out.

The whole drive to school made her more and more curious and impatient for her surprise. If that plane was delayed, she swore she'd hurt someone. She really hoped he'd be back in time for them to catch a late dinner.

She got to school, parked in her usual spot and took off for her classroom. "Fifteen minutes early too, take that world," she muttered to herself.

"Talking to yourself again? That's the first sign of insanity, you know," a voice called behind her. She turned around.

"MAXIE!"

Though she had always considered herself less clichéd than the movies, she ran and tackled him into a hug. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you just as much," he replied, inhaling the scent of her hair.

Pulling apart, Mariam couldn't resist being her usual sarcastic self. "Sooo, when do I get my surprise? Did you get me a nice souvenir?" she asked with a mock pout.

The next thing she knew, Max had dropped on his knee, and was holding out a pretty ring. She couldn't stop it; she started crying, and flung herself at him again, shouting "YESYESYES!"

"Miss C?" a couple of voices interrupted them. 'No, it couldn't be, not now,' she thought, and looked over Max's shoulder. Sure enough, there stood what looked like half her students, gaping at her like they'd seen a flying pig. Oh sure, they couldn't be on time for class, but now?

Knowing there was no chance of hiding this from them; she stood and grinned at them. "What, can't your teacher have a love life too?"

* * *

RTC: SOOOOOOO, my chapters seem to get more and more random, don't they? Anyone guess that Mariam was teaching before the end? Anyhow, don't expect another update till winter break in about a month, but I will try and write a bit during the school year anyway. My muses go on overdrive when I should be cramming. Anyhow, please review!


	8. LOOOOOOOVE Cookies

RTC: Yeah, yeah, I'm still technically on hiatus. But today is my third anniversary of posting something on this site, and it's almost Valentine's, which means I must post some mushy fluffy mush-fluff-bunnies. So here we have it. Miguel, Mathilda, and a cooking class. What ever could go wrong?

Kai: (Grunts.) Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade. Now I'm escaping this mush fest.

* * *

In a pink and white lace covered cooking classroom, there sat a class of students. It was Valentine's. And their teacher was a Valentine's day fanatic. Mathilda, while sweet and innocent, was a total cooking class hater. This was NOT going to end well, she thought to herself as the teacher started on about "Valentine's day LOOOOOOOOOVE cookies." Scary.

Now, normally, shy quiet Mathilda enjoyed school and her classes. The only trouble came with cooking. She could beyblade with the best of them, but have her carry a tray of glasses across the room, and some would surely end up smashed. It's just not fair, she thought, that the teacher would let the boys' disastrous cooking attempts go unnoticed, but point out her mistakes in front of the whole class. It only made things worse, and as she got more stressed, she made more mistakes. It was a never-ending cycle.

"So, they you add the sugar, whisk lightly, and roll out into a flat sheet," the teacher intoned, "and then I have cookie cutters for you! We've got heart and flowers and LOTS of pink frosting!" Mathilda cringed. She liked pink, but this teacher was a real whack job. Even Mariah had seemed scared when she described the teacher to her last week. Glancing across the room, she caught Miguel's eye, who grinned and made a "shoot me now" expression. She grinned. If she had to face the horrors of cooking class, she was glad she had at least one of her friends here to support her.

"Alright, boys and girls, let's go make some cookies!" the teacher announced, and the usual stampede to the food commenced.

"Happy singles awareness day," she heard some girl mutter, and rolled her eyes. Valentine's was a wonderful holiday... just not all the sappy stuff that came with it. Grabbing an apron and a mixing bowl, Mathilda proceeded to her workspace, and started measuring her ingredients.

"Okay, so that's two cups flour, a cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt for the dry ingredients," she muttered as she measured. Sugar cookies were fairly simple. How bad could it be? She reached for the liquid ingredients, and just as she did so, Miguel came up behind her.

"Hey, do you mind if I work over here?" he asked. Unfortunately, he had lousy timing, as Mathilda's concentration was disturbed, she jumped and spilled milk all down her apron and the floor.

"Sorry!" they both cried, reaching to wipe up the spill at the same time, only to bump heads halfway down. Another simultaneous "sorry" and the mess was cleaned up, but not before the teacher could notice and shoot her that evil teacher glare.

"So, what were you saying?" Mathilda asked upon disposing of the wet paper towels.

"That I hate Valentine's? Those shrieking fan girls are starting to drive me INSANE! I swear I'm going to go deaf soon!" She grinned at her best friend's predicament. Every year, hoards of girls felt the need to throw themselves at him. She however, hadn't gotten so much as a card from a boy in years. She was just too quiet and blended into the background, despite being a world class 'blader.

"Hey, these don't look so bad," she proclaimed, after rolling and cutting the cookies.

"That's 'cause I helped." Miguel couldn't resist teasing her. After he put both of their cookies in the oven (Mathilda had been banned from using it after the tea towel on fire incident) they sat back and sniffed at the wondrous smells coming from the ovens.

Fifteen minutes later, Miguel retrieved both trays and set them to cool. Mathilda grinned. They looked a bit burnt around the edges, but that was no doubt the best result she'd produced so far that year. Just as she was finishing her frosting, her teacher came up.

"Why, Mathilda, these look lovely. What an improvement," she commented as she reached for one of the cookies. She bit off a chunk and proceeded to chew, only to have to spit it out onto a napkin ten seconds later. She muttered a brief "See me after class," and whisked off, presumably to rinse her mouth out, which left Mathilda with 27 classmates gaping at her. She looked like she might cry.

"Hey, these aren't so bad," Miguel proclaimed. "Better than that deformed meatloaf!" he teased, "She just doesn't know what she's missing." This successfully eased up the tension in the room, and everyone went back to their own cookies. Hesitantly, Mathilda nibbled one.

"Bleugh, what are you talking about; it's horrible!" she wailed. "What did I do wrong?!"

"I think you mixed up the salt and sugar, personally, but with you, it's hard to tell," he said, wrapping a protective arm around her. "Here. I'll share mine."

"Gah, I really suck at this whole cooking thing, don't I?"

"You'll get it right someday," he assured her.

"Oooooh, look! Miguel's hugging Mathilda!" some girl squealed, and Mathilda pulled away, shocked. Miguel, meanwhile just looked apathetic.

"Ignore them," he instructed, pulling her back.

"Is she your Valentine?" some other girl shrieked.

"Yup. She's mine." Miguel said with a wink at Mathilda. After all, no one said Valentine's was only for romantic love. Whatever bond they shared, they understood it, and no one else needed to understand for them to be happy.

* * *

RTC: Okay, I HAD intended for them to get together at the end, but that seemed too cliché, so I left it there. Think what you want. I'm hoping to work a bit more on this and get this done soon, because I feel guilty. It's also the one year anniversary of when I posted it. Too long. Personally, I still think the best thing about Valentine's is the chocolate, but a girl's allowed to be fluffy sometimes, right? Review please! They're my food, at least till I get some of that chocolate!


	9. Translation Errors

RTC: Hello, everyone. Sorry for another long wait. Unfortunatly, the muses are on vacation, it seems, and they only managed to churn out what is probably the shortest chapter of this fic. I'm clearly a bit too tired and distracted, because last chapter I said I was celebrating my third anniversary here when it was actually my fourth. Beware uni, for it renders you incapable of counting anything besides the number of midterms and papers you have due.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade.

* * *

He thinks it's highly unfair. Of course she'd have a natural advantage in this class. But the school is too small to divide the class into advanced and beginner, so they're all stuck together, and Tala is forced into the role of second best student in the class. It's not that he minds bad grades, per say, but coming in second was just so close to first, only to be thwarted away by her.

He remembers every championship match, and the inevitable second place he ended up winning each time. Though Kai was his best friend, and would understand completely, Tala didn't bring the topic up with him. It was too personal. Partly because he was supposed to be cold and stoic and emotionless, but mostly because of the way she grinned at him as she beat him on each and every test and Kai would figure it out.

"You're close, but no cigar!" she exclaimed, and stuck her tongue out childishly.

It was strange, he mused, that one could survive torture and madness and cyber implants, but a smile from a pretty girl sent his stomach aflutter with a thousand butterflies and rendered him incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

Finally, after being assigned to work together on a project, Tala manages to awkwardly spit out what he's been meaning to say all along, in the hopes of playing it down as school work if she didn't like him back.  
"You... hermosa niña..." he mutters, and half hopes she doesn't hear.

"What do pretty girls have to do with it?" Julia asks, before her eyes narrow in suspiciously, as she clues in. She has had far too many guys hit on her to want to go through it again. She always thought Tala was into things more than physical beauty.

"I, erm, erm, t'aimo?" he says hopefully.

"You prat!" He winces, waiting for the accompanying blow to the head he's seen her give out before. It does not come. "I've been waiting for you to ask me out for ages! Don't you know it's rude to keep a girl waiting?"

He looks up, perplexed. "You mean it?"

"On one condition-don't try and ask me in Spanish!"

* * *

RTC: Okay, I admit to using a translator to help me with the Spanish in here, and I know those things are generally useless. However, I don't speak Spanish, so in this case, we'll blame Tala for not listening in class well enough. "Hermosa niña" is "pretty girl", and "t'aimo" is supposed to be "I love you" but that's based on my memory and not a translator, so I could be off. Anyhow, review and I'll love you forever! Any ideas for the remaining couples would be welcome. (For a list of future pairings, please see my home page.) Ta ta for now!


	10. First, Last and First Again

RTC: Hello all. Sorry about yet another long wait. This time, our chapter features the adventures of Ray and Mariah, aka my favourite pairing! Prepare for some short and sweet mush.

Ray: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, and probably never will.

* * *

"But Mommy, I don't want to go!" a small pink haired girl was crying. Her mom was holding her hand and pulling her along. "I can learn at home!"

"Mariah, sweetie, you have to go to school," her mother reasoned, sounding exasperated, "You'll meet lots of new friends and besides, you'd get lonely staying home when all your friends are at school."

"But I'll miss you!" she wailed, tears flowing fast. By this point, they were at the school, and Mrs. Wong looked at a loss for words.

"Mariah!" someone called out. Both mother and daughter looked up to see Ray coming running at them like a small whirlwind.

"Ray!" The tears instantly stopped. Mrs. Wong discreetly let go of her daughter's hand.

"Why were you crying, Mari?" he asked solemnly.

"I'm scared," she admitted in a small voice. "What if I don't like it? What if no one wants to be my friend?"

"Awe, don't be scared; I'm here. I'll be your friend." He took the hand her mother had dropped and gently tugged her towards the door.

"Bye Mommy!"

"Bye Mariah!" her mom called, looking bewildered as to how she was escaping alive.

* * *

"Mom, you really don't have to come in, you know," Mariah was saying.

Her mother rolled her eyes. Teenagers. She refrained from mentioning all the tears that were had years before.

"I can't believe we're DONE!" Mariah continued. "It feels like just yesterday that we started school!" She looked about ready to tear up.

"Mariah!"

'Talk about deja vu,' Mrs. Wong thought as Ray once again raced towards them.

"Ray!" Mariah looked no less happy to see him as she had that first day of school.

"Come on, grad's about to start! We have to get in line!"

"Okay! Go find a seat, Mom! We'll see you later!" This time, she grabbed his hand, blushed, and ran off.

"Bye dear!" This time, it was Mariah that failed to see what her mom did. Mrs. Wong smiled knowingly.

* * *

"But Mommy, I don't want to go to school!" another little pink haired girl was sobbing.

"Rin, you have to go to school. You need an education. Besides, you'll make lots of friends," her mother tried to reason.

"Nu-uh, I don't wanna!"

"But honey..."

"Rin! Over here!"

"Julian!" She stopped crying. Mariah felt a sense of deja vu. In a matter of minutes, her daughter was smiling and skipping along into the classroom.

"Thank god for small miracles, huh?" Ray muttered.

"No kidding. Who knows, maybe we'll have another round of deja vu in about 20 years."

Ray looked puzzled for a second. "NOOOOOOOOO! Get away from my precious daughter!"

* * *

RTC: I'm feeling a serious D'AWWWWWWWWWWW moment coming on. 5 more chapters left and let's see if I can get them done by the end of the summer. Not likely, but I'm going to try.


	11. Letters to No One

RTC: So, I must apologize for the very long delay between chapters. University life really IS insane sometimes. I considered abandoning this project and focusing on school, but I remembered that writing is a bit of a stress-reliever and I could use it. Some of these chapters were finished months ago, but I was waiting till the whole story was finished before posting. I'm not sure I'll continue writing after this story is complete, but for now, you can expect a chapter every week or so. Thank you to anyone who is still reading and welcome to any new readers. For iluvbeyblade. Because she is awesome for creating this pairing.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade. She feels these disclaimers are getting dumber by the chapter, but it is a hard habit to break.

* * *

Salima sighed as she stared out the window. It was raining yet again, but for once she was glad. The storm reflected her mood. Her decision to leave Japan after her extended stay once again came back to haunt her. University life was just not what it was cracked up to be. The workload was intense, the Profs too busy, and her social life had quickly died off. Glancing back at her desk, she saw the half a dozen unfinished and unsent letters she had penned.

"Dear Kai,

I'm just writing to tell you I'm doing well and that university is great. I'm having a blast..."

"Dear Kai,

I miss you. School's great, though and I love it here. The work is so interesting and there are so many new people to meet and so much stuff to see and do..."

"Dear Kai,

Hope you're doing well. Life just isn't the same without you around. I don't suppose you could come visit..."

"Dear Kai,

I miss you so much. I was stupid, okay? I loved you too much and I got scared. I just couldn't take it..."

"Dear Kai,

Why am I still calling you "dear" anyway? We broke up a month ago. I'm so sorry. I know I hurt you, but you're so famous and I'm just me. You could have anyone..."

"Kai,

You probably DO have someone else by now. I don't need you to be happy... Except that I totally do..."

"Kai, you total jerk,

I saw that article. You couldn't even wait a week before you go get some tramp? And to think I loved you. I hate your guts, Kai Hiwatari!"

"Kai,

Why am I still sitting here writing these stupid letters you'll never see? Well, as long as you'll never see them, I guess I might as well say it here. Get it all in writing. I loved you so much. I miss you like you wouldn't believe. I'm sitting here crying myself to sleep, and you're in Japan having the time of your life. It's just not fair. I wish I could take it all back..."

Finally tearing herself away from the window, Salima decided it was time to end this stupid moping. Glaring angrily at the letters, she balled them up and chucked them in the bin. She was all alone.

Two weeks later, it was raining again, and she had had too many classes to eat lunch, hadn't finished her homework, and had forgotten her umbrella. Running towards her dorm, she felt a hand latch around her arm. She was about to lash out, until she saw who it was.

"Kai..."

"I got your letters." He looked both amused and serious at the same time.

"What lett-how did you get those?"

"Matilda found them in the bin, and she decided to help you out."

"Ooooh, I'm going to kill her! Those were just a joke. Trash. Rubbish. Angst-y brooding."

"I've missed you too, you know. And you really ought to know better than to believe those trashy magazines," he said with a smirk. "By their standards, I've slept with half of Japan by now."

"But, but, wha?" Oh great, a month apart and he still made her a gibbering mess. Great. And then Kai did the unexpected. He kissed her.

"Kissing in the rain? How cliché," Mathilda teased, turning up with an umbrella in hand. "Now come on. I do believe you two need to have a talk."

"Thanks, Mattie," they murmured in unison and headed for the safety of the dorm. They had a lot of catching up to do, after all.

* * *

RTC: It was _supposed_ to end after the "She was alone," bit, but I couldn't bring myself to leave them so unhappy, hence the mushy end. Ah well.


	12. Deadlines

RTC: This was written the same day as the last chapter. Can you tell I was over-worked at the time? So over worked, in fact, that I forgot that I had already done this pairing. Oops. Consider it a bonus chapter. A funnier piece, to balance out the brooding from last chapter. For anyone that has ever tried to balance homework and a boyfriend and failed miserably.

Tyson: Ray-Tiger-Cat is glad she doesn't have to write essays much, but does wish she owned Beyblade.

* * *

Scritch, scratch. Scritch, scratch. Scribble. Frustrated sigh. Erase. Scritch, scratch.

Twitch, twitch. That writing was driving Tala crazy. He had taken time out of his busy schedule to come spend time with his girlfriend, but she was too busy writing an essay to pay him much attention. His suggestion of just not doing homework was met with a dirty look, so now he was regulated to sitting on Julia's couch, arms and legs tightly crossed and twitching his eyebrow.

Essays are the spawn of Satan, he decided. Just why he was dating an English major, he wasn't sure, especially at times like this.

"Tala." Uh oh, she was using that tone of voice. "Can you PLEASE stop twitching and bouncing you leg? It's driving me mental and I'm TRYING to work here. Go find something to do."

Great, find something to do in a girl's apartment. What did she expect him to do, to go organize her closet? Getting up and wandering around the apartment, he settled on going to the kitchen to find some food.

Opening the fridge, he groaned at the selection. Considering Julia shared her place with two other girls, there was no "manly" food to be found. Skim milk, fruits, low fat yogurt, bleugh. Rooting through the freezer, he found a bit of ice cream. Fat free, of course, but better than nothing. Locating the blender, he quickly tossed some fruit in with the ice cream hoping to make a milkshake. Just as he started the blender, he heard Julia's voice.

"TALA! I'm working here! Stop making such a racket!" He jumped in his dash to stop it and spilled some on the floor. He looked at the half blended milkshake. Not very appetizing, so he put the whole thing back in the freezer to finish blending later and tidied up.

Grabbing a soda, he wandered off down the hall, plopped down in Julia's room and decided to watch some TV. He turned on the TV, sat down on the bed and opened the can. Just as he was about to take a swig, her territorial cat jumped out from nowhere and caused him to fall backwards and spill soda over everything.

"TALA! What was that?"

"Nothing Jules!" Tidying up his second mess in an hour, he decided to leave the room and that crazy cat and walked off to the bathroom to clean off the soda. He tried turning on the shower, but nothing happened.

"Julia! What's wrong with the shower?"

"It hasn't been working all day! The plumber's coming tomorrow!" was the short reply he got.

What else can go wrong, he wondered as he removed his soda covered shirt, ice cream soaked socks and shoes, and his now sticky watch and washed his face and hair as best he could in the sink. Deciding he was better off just sitting on the couch after all, he went back in there.

"What's wro-oh!" Julia had finally looked up from her work. Tala looked down and realized he was wearing just his jeans and nothing else. He smirked, and went over for a kiss.

And finally, FINALLY, Julia said the words he was waiting for, "Ah, what the heck, that essay can wait!"

That was the day Julia learned some things are more important than homework. And Tala? Well, he decided that writer's block was worse than PMS.

* * *

RTC: Well, there's a half naked Tala in there. I'm assuming this is enough to entertain most of us. Thanks for reading and be sure to drop a review. No reviews from the last chapter, sadly enough, but I am determined to finish this. Please drop me a line?


	13. Uniforms

RTC: This one was actually written on a scrap bit of paper in class, while I was supposed to be listening to the teacher. What can I say, an hour long lecture on how to calculate slope just put me to sleep. (In my defence, that was something we learned at the start of high school, 7 years ago for me!) A special thank you to .. for reminding me how fun an annoyed Lee is to write.

Ray: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, nor a school uniform.

* * *

"But Lee, you have to. It's school policy," Ray tried explaining patiently.

"What, to infringe upon our cultural rights?" Lee protested angrily.

"I know, it's not fair, but that's what city life is like."

Lee huffed and folded his arms over his chest. He was getting angry. "But traditional clothes are part of culture. Do we not have human rights?"

"I know, but school uniforms are mandatory," Ray said.

"I don't see what their problem is."

"Maybe they don't want to see your bare chest every day," Kevin piped up cheekily.

"Oh, ha ha. I'm the team captain, show some respect!"

"Lee, it'll be okay," Mariah tried. Gary was wisely staying silent.

Lee glared harshly. "This is stupid. I don't even know why we have to go to this city school," he said, saying 'city' as though it were a dirty word.

"You know why," Ray explained. "We need to get an education at an accredited school to attend university. They've offered us scholarships for tuition and board too."

By this point, the rest of the team had gotten bored and wandered off. "Look, why don't we go talk to the school administration and see what happens?" Ray suggested.

A few days later, an irritable Ray and reluctant Lee wandered into what was to be their new school. They entered the principal's office and explained the situation.

"I'm sorry, boys, the uniforms are mandatory in class. But you may wear whatever you want outside class, and we can see if we can accommodate some changes," the principal explained.

Lee considered this. He considered the scholarships and university. And Ray was nodding along. He opened his mouth to agree, but was cut off.

"Oh, but you both will need a proper haircut. Boys are not to have hair that long here."

Lee looked horrified. They were going to cut his beautiful mane? He turned to Ray, hoping he wouldn't try to convince him to comply. But Ray was already on his feet, clutching his ponytail.

"Nooooo! Not the hair! We reject your offer! Come on, let's go!" he shouted as he tugged Lee out by the

arm.

Lee smirked. He should have known. No one messes with Ray's hair.

* * *

RTC: Just thought it would be interesting to see how the White Tigers take to uniforms. From what I can tell, most schools outside North America are pretty strict about them. Please review. I'm tempted to hold my updates hostage again, but I think I'm more mature than when I started here, so I'll just say I'm going to finish this, even if I never get a review again, but if you liked it, one would be lovely.


	14. The Perils of Cafeterias

RTC: Hi everyone. No reviews for the last chapter, but I suppose that's what happens when one abandons one's story for months on end. Ah well, penultimate chapter here. This was meant to be a romance, but ended up being more friendship. It took me the longest time to decide what direction I wanted to take this pairing. Enjoy!

Daichi: Ray-Tiger-cat does not own Beyblade, although she was good enough to provide me with cookies.

* * *

'Sandwich, mystery meat, fries, ugh, what trash!' Ming Ming thought to herself as she walked through the lunch line, passing over each. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed and snatched a bowl of salad, the only "acceptable" option.

"Sandwich, mystery meat, giant cookies, more giant cookies, fries, more cookies, pudding," Daichi listed aloud as he stacked his lunch tray. "Ew, salad, skipping that! Fries, pizza, another sandwich."

"Hey Ming!" a girl shouted over to her. Next to her were a bunch of giggly girls, some with their phones out, some playing with their hair, and all with a matching bowl of leafy greens. Ming Ming repressed the urge to tell them to stop calling her "Ming." 'My mum gave me a whole name for a reason!'

Daichi dumped himself at an empty table and started to spread out his lunch. It was probably just as well that he was eating alone, because he needed most of the table to spread out all his food.

Ming Ming sat and tried to listen to the inane chatter about hair and boys and make up that the whole table was full of, but found she couldn't really focus. She hadn't been at this school very long, but once she had arrived, she'd been approached by the popular girls, and having known no one there, had decided to join them. She'd only learned that Daichi was in her grade two weeks before, but by then she was trying to fit in and figured that they weren't compatible anyway.

Daichi sat, having inhaled half of his food already, and wished he had someone to talk to. Being the loud mouth that he was, sitting quietly just didn't sit right with him. He saw Ming Ming out of the corner of his eye, but knew better than to approach her.

Suddenly, talk at the table had switched to beyblading and who the girls thought the cutest 'blader was. She finally tuned in, figuring it was the closest she was going to get to a decent conversation.

"I don't know what those girls are thinking, playing that boys' game," one of the girls started.

"They're clearly not tough enough for it."

"Yeah, I've heard they're total bitches that are just in it to get a boyfriend. How pathetic," another added.

Ming Ming was seething. She had heard comments like this before, mostly from idiotic guys, sports reporters, and even random strangers on the street, but this was a new low. 'These girls are supposed to be my friends,' she thought. She stayed silent. Any blow up from her would no doubt just reported to the press and misconstrued anyway.

Daichi was busy eating when he heard mentions of 'blading and looked up. He was surprised to see that it was a bunch of girls that Ming Ming hung out with. She herself did not look happy, and for the umpteenth time, he wondered why she wasted her time with those low lives.

"I'll bet those girls are so ditzy that they can't use their brains, so they resort to using brawn," one of Ming Ming's "friends" was saying. Ming Ming turned red. Daichi knew there was trouble.

"Argh! That's it! I BEYBLADE, YOU IDOITS! I'm not just some pretty face! And 'blading takes more brain power than figuring out what lipstick matches your skin tone!" Ming Ming spat out.

The girls looked shocked. They quickly stood as a group, grabbed their salads and marched off to another table, leaving poor Ming Ming alone and looking alone.

'Why did I have to do that? Now I've got no one!' she thought. Rationally, she knew they weren't her friends, but it still stung.

Suddenly, she felt someone tugging on her arm. When she looked up, Daichi was holding her lunch tray in one hand, and pulling her over to his table with the other.

"You looked like you could've used some help," he said, being surprisingly mature.

"Yeah, thanks, Daichi," Ming Ming smiled.

"That's what friends are for. REAL friends," he emphasized. Smiling, he grabbed one of his many giant cookies and offered it to the girl. To his surprise, she took it.

"You know, I've always hated salad."

"Me too!"

Maybe they were more alike than different after all.

* * *

RTC: Bit of a mature side for Daichi; which is a change. Usually I see him written as comic relief and have mostly used his for that purpose myself. Despite the fact that I don't like either character much, they're sorta cute together, no? Only one more chapter to go!


	15. Mischief Making

RTC: And here we have the final chapter. *sniffles* Kai and Tala ended up being a touch OOC, but I imagine even they feel annoyed with school from time to time. Most of their mischief is based on stuff my own classmates have pulled when the teacher's back was turned. We're such a mature bunch.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade. She is just glad she finished this story before she finished school.

* * *

WHAM!

"Ivanov! Hiwatari! Pay attention!"

It was math class, and just like in every math class throughout the universe, students stopped paying attention halfway through in order to fool around. Add to the fact that it was a particularly hot Friday afternoon, and you had the making of a disater.

Out of sheer boredom, both Kai and Tala had started doddling and daydreaming. After all the crazy things they had been through, they were hardly going to be afraid of their math teacher, now were they?

Finally, finally, Mrs. Jones stopped teaching and let them concentrate on a problem set for the remainder of the class. It was positivly peaceful... for about five minutes.

"Hey, that's mine," Tala snapped, as Kai swiped his eraser.

He got a set of rolled eyes in response. "I don't see your name on it, Ivanov," Kai replied, fully knowing he was being childish, but not caring. He was bored, damnit, and tired of being stuck in this school.

Tala snatched the eraser back. "Get your own eraser," he muttered under his breath as he turned to start in on the pile of homework assigned.

Now normally, Kai and Tala got along well, as responsible and mature friends, class mates and team mates, so what happened next was a bit surprising. Kai insisted it was the heat. Tala insisted Kai was just being particularly defiant. But at any rate, the pair were quite a bit grouchier than usual and if there was one thing they were good at, it was driving teachers insane.

Kai crumpled up a ball of paper and after carefully checking that the teacher was looking the other way, chucked it at another student's head.

Tala rolled his eyes. Kai was just behaving like a child. 'Best to ignore him,' he thought. 'I'll be a mature adult.' Another bit of paper bounced off the kid's head. The kid finally looked up and shot Kai a look of annoyance. Mrs. Jones spotted the second ball too, and glared.

WHAM!

"I will not tolerate foolishness in my classroom!"

Waiting untill Kai turned around, Tala ripped up a sheet of paper out of his notebook and tore it into little pieces. After he had accumilated about 20 small paper balls, he attempted to throw them into a girls's hair. She had long bushy locks and made the perfect target. He had gotten 6 pieces to stay when the teacher caught him.

WHAM!

"Ivanov, Hiwatari! Just what has gotten into you two today? Act your age, if you please!"

Tala saw Kai's eyebrow twitch and he watched as Kai grabbed the meter stick the teacher had left on his desk and slip to the back of the room. When she ducked down to help a student with the homework, Kai threw the offending stick out the window.

"Hiwatari! What are you doing back there? And where did my ruler go?" Mrs. Jones asked, looking bewildered. She started looking all over the classroom for it.

Meanwhile, the class had nearly come to an end. At last, Kai thought, the bell was about to ring. He was almost free! 30 seconds... 20 seconds... 10 seconds... 3, 2...

She looked out the window, where the meter stick was hanging from the branches of a tree.

"That's it, you two! Dention!"

Two indentical sighs of annoyance. So close... and yet so far.

* * *

RTC: Hope you're all happy and thanks for sticking with me while I finished this project. I'm going into my final year of schooling this year, and after graduation, I'm supposed to be an adult and get a job, which is why I really wanted this finished this summer, my last long break. I'm not sure when/what/if I'll post next, but we shall see. Thank you very, very, very much to all readers and reviewers for sticking with me for so long. For now, farewell.


End file.
